Theard Perrin

Our fourth featured elder friend was born in Haiti in 1924 at Camp-Perrin, a village close to Les Cayes city in the south.

Theard Perrin grew up with five brothers and three sisters. His father Lefranc Perrin was a judge in the county court, and his mother Anovia Percy was a retailer and a woman of strength, courage, and determination to provide an excellent education to all her children. From his parents, Mr. Perrin learned the value of respect, obedience, and wisdom.

Perrin attended Les Freres de l’Instruction Chretienne’s Catholic school. At the age of 7, he remembered the visit of the President of Haiti Mr. Stenio Vincent at the school and was designated to present him a bouquet of flowers.

Another great joy of Mr. Perrin’s childhood was celebrating Haiti’s Independence Day on January 1st when he received 4 cents as a New Year gift from his grandparents. On top of this, all siblings were gratified with a bowl of giraumon soup (soup joumou), the usual New Year tradition.

After completing his primary school, Mr. Perrin’s parents sent him to Les Cayes where he attended Philippe Guerrier’s high school. Mr. Perrin eventually dropped high school to pursue a trade as a tailor and then became a teacher. He also got involved in Catholic activities with his local parish helping priests in seminary and leading masses.

Coming to the USA as a first-generation immigrant was a new adventure. Mr. Perrin had a rough time at first, facing two obstacles: English was not his native language, and the weather was cold. Adjusting to a new life, he started making a living by doing some hard manual labor at a plastic factory. He went to an evening school to improve upon his English.

Mr. Perrin recollects his first day in Brooklyn with the high buildings, the morning noise from sanitation trucks and the sound of the fire truck siren.

For Theard Perrin Living with an older sister and two brothers under the same roof was so helpful in every way. Six months later Mr. Perrin left his factory job to work as a porter in a private hospital in Manhattan, and also went to school to become a New York Life Insurance Agent. He worked hard at it for almost ten years to become independent and eventually got married.

Mr. Perrin first met his spouse attending a French mass at St Matthew’s parish. He knew her from Haiti and sold some insurance to her. After becoming well acquainted, he proposed to her and got married in a Catholic church. They went to Canada in Cap-de-la-Madeleine for their honeymoon.

In the following years, Mr. Perrin got very involved with church activities, leading the French Creole Sunday mass in two different parishes. He eventually became very sick and quit his insurance company, to become a Travel Agent with Trans World Airlines. He also got involved with translating documents from French to English and prepared applications for the Immigration service.

After becoming very sick again, his marriage fell apart, and he ended up at Mt Carmel Senior Residence headed by Catholic Charities. Mr. Perrin was a hard worker and is determined to be honest in every way and trust God.

Growing up in a Catholic family, Mr. Perrin went to a Catholic primary school, got acquainted with brothers and priests, and was involved early in parish activities. The religious education he has received in his youth served him as a sure guide for the rest of his life. For him, God as creator is a good provider and a good father who knows what is best for his children. Mr. Perrin’s favorite holidays are Christmas, the New Year, Easter Sunday and Thanksgiving.

Remembering the people who had the most significant influence on his life, Mr. Perrin is crediting his parents, brother Yacinthe and fathers Marcel Bolducomi and Roland Lussier, still treasuring the good memories he has of them. Of the people he has lost in his life, he misses his parents the most, and one of his brothers who passed away recently.

All in all Mr. Perrin is proud of his education and to be a Christian. He is grateful for his faith and God that sustained him during his time of sickness. He hopes to live the rest of his life in a quiet way and is waiting for his last day on earth when God calls him home.